the language of thought

this post is about dreams & thoughts.

but don't worry, its not about your 'aspirations'. nor is it about the contents of your dreams which i propose to analyse. and i am definitely not going to share the details of my dreams and scandalise you in the bargain! :-)



have you noticed that, irrespective of what we dream about, we dream in a particular language? and we normally dream in the language we think in.

now you might say that dreams don't have any language. its only a series of images passing through our sub-conscious mind. but by that logic everything we see in our waking state is also only a series of images. in fact, if we think about it, everything we think about in our waking and dream states are composed of nothing but thoughts. our dreams are also, therefore, a series of thoughts. (for more about thoughts read 'bundle of thoughts')



and we think our thoughts in a chosen language. and for some, this is not necessarily the language you speak in. some of us think in one language and then translate these thoughts into another language before we speak. and therefore, the language we speak most comfortably in is the language we think in. even if you are a multi-lingual person, you would still be thinking in one default language.

and the most amazing thing is that we even see objects in a particular language! because whenever we see anything we always label it and then use these labels to relate, recognise, understand and experience the objects and events revolving around those objects.



imagine watching a 'rose'. in your mind you see a 'rose', if your default language of thought is english. alternately your mind would see a 'gulab' or a 'roja-pu' or a 'rosa-pu' or any other such name depending on your own language of thought!

but then, these are all my own random thoughts (in english :-) ). how about you? what's your language of thought? what language do you dream in?

the power of 'cheee'

a lot has been said and written about how we use language, especially the written word, in a very limited fashion to express ourselves and our ideas. very often we find ourselves in situations where we are struggling to find the right word to aptly express what we are trying to say! and its during such 'frozen' moments that we fall back on some of our favourite words.

some of these words are unmentionable and unreproducible here in this blog since i believe this blog has a 'family' readership. but you will agree that these 'filler words' (you might even call them 'killer words') have an almost magical quality of morphing themselves into a myriad set of meanings; usually way beyond what the original utterer of the word ever intended for it.

lets take the very indian expression 'chee' which roughly translates into 'how disgusting!'. but this same word if pronounced as 'cheee' also translates into 'go on! i don't believe you/he/she/it/someone can be so disgusting!'.

here's a short list of the various possible connotations of the same 'sound expulsion' :
1. 'che' when said in a short irritated fashion expresses just that - extreme irritation.
2. 'chi' when expressed with a lot of sideways-head-shaking would typically denote self-loathing for having missed that god-given opportunity of making an easy buck or something along those lines.
3. 'shee' said with a lot of fluttering of the eyes would basically mean the universal statement 'i like it but i am obviously not going to let you know that, am i'?
4. 'chi chi chi' muttered multiple times under your breath with a lot of vigorous head-shaking would clearly mean you have just done something very sacrilegious.
5. 'oh shee' is what kids say when they want to be polite and not utter unmentionable words within earshot of the elders.
6. an exaggerated 'cheee' with a lot of eyebrow raising and nose-wrinkling might just be a group of friends just harmlessly pulling someone's leg in the group.
7. and then there are some who would not deign to utter such crude sounds but would rather utter a polished 'sheesh' making you wonder how they happened to be born on the wrong side of the english channel (and i don't mean the bbc here).

i could go on and on... but i think you get the general idea (and i don't want you going 'sheesh' over me!).

the problem with such words and expressions is that over time they become convenient crutches to lean on to when we don't get the right word in our daily conversations. and then over time we slowly start losing the agility of speech and start uttering a language which sounds vaguely like english but is wide off the mark!

do you know any other similar expressions that we use often? (but please remember this is a 'family' viewing/reading blog!) :-)

what did you just say?

recently i was chatting with a friend trying to find out how i could get my picture uploaded on my gmail account so that it could show with my profile. (just goes to show how vain i am ;-) )

during the conversation a statement was made which went something like this -
"if you roll your mouse over your name you should be able to see your pic". that's when i did a double-take and asked 'what did you just say?'!

for a moment, just imagine you were in the early or mid seventies when we didn't have television, computers and mobile phones (and while i am at it, let me also add that at my house we didn't have - telephones, cable tv, refrigerator, micro-waves, piped gas, washing machines, etc). if i were to make such a statement to someone, they would either assume i have finally come unhinged or i am making some off-colour joke or something.

i then tried to list out some more such statements we use almost everyday which would sound weird or nonsensical if we had uttered them in the period i mentioned ealier. (the statements in brackets are the possible reactions that you might have received to these statements)

the amazing thing is that we are talking about language changing during our own life-times!

1. let me sms/text you his cell number (people would assume you are talking in code about people in prison cells!)

2. can you please switch over to mtv or ftv? (people would assume you are asking them to change brands of something. except that they would wonder what item are you talking about!)

3. do you have a swift or a getz? mine's a city! (you would be looked at in a kindly fashion as people would assume you are mentally disturbed)

4. let me log in and upload my file and zip it across to you! (a case of too much star trek!)

5. let's grab a coke and a 'mac aloo tikki burger' with some fries to go with it! (you are definintely imbibing some banned susbtances!)

6. let's meet at k-lounge tonight. dj plays some cool trance! (what's so cool about dhananjay playing his off-key harmonium? and where in the universe is the 'lounge'?)

7. you should try the hummus and the falafel. and then wash it down with a chianti. (dabbling with banned substances again!)

8. my son got his first 'beyblade' today! (how can you say such crass things? its not something to be proud of! you wouldn't say that if you were the father of the girl!)

9. did you crack today's sudoku? (is that some form of martial art you are practising?)

10. let me try ping you or finger you and see if there is any response. (don't you dare get fresh with me!!!)

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i'm sure you can up with more hilarious examples. please do share them here.